Tuesday, 9 August 2011

New drive to cut child passenger casualties in Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute Council’s road safety unit is launching a new campaign to raise awareness among parents, grandparents and carers about the dangers of incorrectly-fitted or inappropriate child car seats.

As part of this, three ‘car seat clinics’ have been arranged to which members of the public are invited to drop in to have their child seats checked by the experts.

In tackling this vital road safety issue, the council is supporting the national Scottish Good Egg In-Car Child Safety campaign, which has significantly reduced casualty rates among child passengers across Scotland over the last 10 years.

Director of Road Safety Scotland, Michael McDonnell said: “We have seen the number of children killed or seriously injured in cars fall by 72% over the past ten years which marks a welcome contribution to the UK Government target of a 50% reduction. This is a tremendous success story which I believe could not have been achieved without the Good Egg campaign.”

Campaign literature including posters, information leaflets and Good Egg guides will be widely distributed throughout Argyll and Bute in the coming weeks, backed up by a series of 'car seat clinic' events where people can have their child car seats checked for safety by experts and hear more about in-car child safety from the Good Egg team.

Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for transport and infrastructure, said: "Although well-intentioned parents install a child car seat to keep their child safe, there is a significant danger of serious injury if the seat is not fitted properly or if they have chosen the wrong type of seat for the height, weight and age of the child.

“I am delighted that the road safety unit is organizing these clinics throughout the area as part of this campaign, and strongly advise all parents to take advantage of this free opportunity to let the experts make sure children of all ages are being carried safely using the correct restraint. It will give them peace of mind and it could save their child’s life.”

For more information, please contact road safety officer June Graham on 01546 604182.